Medicine dispensing system having stair-step dosing indicators

ABSTRACT

A medicine dispensing device, configured to contain a liquid medicine to be dispensed by the medicine dispensing device and having a plurality of dosing indicia spaced apart from each other around and in relation to a circumference of a surface of the medicine dispensing device, each dosing indicia being of a different height relative to a reference level and corresponding to different dose of the liquid medicine.

PRIORITY

The present application for patent claims priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 62/830,287, filed Apr. 5, 2019, entitled “MEDICINEDISPENSING SYSTEM HAVING STAIR-STEP DOSING INDICATORS” and assigned tothe assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by referenceherein.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a medicine-dosing device, and moreparticularly to a medicine dosing device having particularly arrangedand designed dosing labels, and methods for administering appropriatedoses of medicine thereby.

BACKGROUND

Administering proper drug doses accurately and efficiently during anemergency or intensive care situation is of critical importance. This isparticularly of essence in an emergency or critical care situations, andespecially those that involve pediatric patients as even small dosingmistakes can lead to disastrous consequences. However, even under thebest of circumstances and despite the best of efforts of medicalpersonnel, inadvertent mistakes are sometimes made because of themultitude of steps involved in the drug administration process. Morespecifically, in a typical situation appropriate drug dosage must firstbe determined, which usually involves multi-step mathematicalcalculations. This is followed by plurality of steps involved in theactual drug administration process, which may include selection of acorrect medicine to be administered or medical dosing device to be used.Because each step carries with it a potential for introducing an errorinto the overall drug administration process, reducing the number ofsteps that must be executed can significantly increase the overallaccuracy and efficiency of the process.

Drug dosages conventionally are determined based on the weight of thepatient. However, this method can, at times, be inappropriate andinaccurate especially in the emergency and critical care situations.Thus, at times, patient length can be used, as it allows for a quick andefficient determination of drug dosages, involves the use of acolor-coded measuring tape for determining the length of a patient. Morespecifically, the Broselow® Pediatric Emergency Tape is a well-knowninstrument that correlates easily obtainable patient length to drugdosages. The details of the instrument and the method of its use aredisclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,716,888 and 6,132,416 to Broselowwhich are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. Ingeneral, the method involves measuring and coding patient length to oneof the color zones provided on the tape and using the color-coded lengthto determine a drug dosage to be administered to the patient. Bysegmenting the tape into plurality of color coded zones rather than thetypically used inches or centimeters, with each color zone correspondingto a given length range, the length of the patient can be easily readand noted as being of a certain color rather than as a specificmeasurement in centimeters or inches. In other words, each color-codedlength zone corresponds to a certain, predetermined range of the actuallengths as measured in either metric or imperial units. For example, thegrey color zone on the tape may correspond to a length range from 42.20cm to 60.79 cm and the pink color zone on the tape may correspond to thelength range from 60.80 cm to 67.79 cm.

Thus, a patient whose length falls within the first length range wouldbe coded as gray and a patient whose length falls within the secondlength range would be coded as pink. The appropriate drug dosages forthe two patients would then be selected from a list of predetermineddrug dosages listed on the tape. Other commercially availablelength/weight-based tapes, such as the PediaTape and the Handtevy tape,are used in a similar fashion.

Although the step of determining drug dosages has been greatlysimplified with the use of aforementioned method, a number of otherissues still remain that often lead to dosing errors or that make themedication administration process inefficient. For instance, in order toarrive at a correct dose of medicine that is to be administered once themedication dosage is determined a number of other calculations, such asthose involving, for example, concentration of the medication, stillneed to be performed. Furthermore, the selection of a correct medicine,an appropriate medicine dosing device or drawing of a correctpredetermined volume of medication into the medicine dosing device caneach introduce an error or slow down the process of administeringmedication to the patient. Even in situations when medication dosagesare based on dosing systems other than the conventional weight basedsystems, such as for example patient age, body surface area or volume,dosing inaccuracies may be observed due to the type of calibrations usedin such systems. In particular, a typically used constant incrementalchange in dosages may result in a loss in needed dosing accuracy whensuch systems are used.

Thus, despite the availability of various techniques designed tosimplify the process of drug dosage determination and administration,there still exists a possibility of errors because of the pressure oftime and the environment under which the treatment is delivered, as wellas the type of dosing systems that are being used. Accordingly, there isneed for a device for, and method of, accurately and efficientlydelivering drugs, especially to pediatric patients.

SUMMARY

A medicine dispensing device for administering a liquid medicine isdisclosed herein. The medicine dispensing device includes a cupconfigured to contain a liquid medicine to be dispensed by the medicinedispensing device. The cup includes a side wall, a circular bottomelement and an open top.

The device further includes a plurality of dosing indicia spaced apartfrom each other around and in relation to a circumference of a surfaceof the side wall. Each dosing indicia is of a different height relativeto a reference level and corresponds to a different dose of the liquidmedicine.

In one implementation the plurality of dosing indicia are correlated toa plurality of values of a physical characteristic of a patient. Each ofthe plurality of dosing indicia may be of a different color. Inaddition, each of the plurality of dosing indicia may include a firstportion of a first transparency and a second portion of a secondtransparency different from the first transparency. A first of theplurality of dosing indicia may be separated from a second of theplurality of dosing indicia by approximately 180 degrees on the surfaceof the side wall, which in one implementation is frustoconical. Each ofthe plurality of dosing indicia may further include a volumetricindication.

In another aspect the disclosure relates to a medicine dispensing deviceincluding a frustoconical cup configured to contain a liquid medicine tobe dispensed. The device further includes a plurality of color-codeddosing indicia spaced apart from each other around and in relation to acircumference of a lateral surface of the frustoconical cup. Each dosingindicia is of a different height relative to a reference level andcorresponds to a different dose of the liquid medicine.

In one implementation each dosing indication on the frustoconical cupfurther includes a volumetric indication. The reference level may becoincident with or proximate an interior bottom surface of thefrustoconical cup. Each of the plurality of dosing indicia may include afirst portion of a first transparency and a second portion of a secondtransparency different from the first transparency.

The disclosure is also directed to a medicine dispensing deviceincluding a syringe having a barrel configured to contain a liquidmedicine to be dispensed by the medicine dispensing device. A pluralityof color-coded dosing indicia are spaced around a circumference of asurface of the barrel. Each dosing indicia is of a different heightrelative to a reference level and corresponds to a different dose of theliquid medicine. The reference level may be proximate an end of thebarrel.

In one implementation the dispensing device includes a syringe, and theplurality of color-coded dosing indicia are correlated to a plurality ofvalues of a physical characteristic of a patient. Each of the pluralityof dosing indicia may be of a different color. In addition, each of theplurality of dosing indicia may include a first portion of a firsttransparency and a second portion of a second transparency differentfrom the first transparency. A first of the plurality of dosing indiciamay be separated from a second of the plurality of dosing indicia byapproximately 180 degrees on the surface of the barrel. Each of theplurality of dosing indicia may further be rectangular, of a differentcolor, and include a volumetric indication.

In yet another aspect the disclosure is directed to a medicinedispensing device including a spoon configured to receive a liquidmedicine to be dispensed. A plurality of color-coded dosing indicia arespaced apart from each other around and in relation to a portion of thespoon configured to hold the liquid medicine to be dispensed, eachdosing indicia being of a different length relative to a reference andcorresponding to different dose of the liquid medicine.

In one implementation, the dispensing device includes a spoon, and theplurality of dosing indicia are correlated to a plurality of values of aphysical characteristic of a patient. Each of the plurality of dosingindicia may be of a different color. In addition, each of the pluralityof dosing indicia may include a first portion of a first transparencyand a second portion of a second transparency different from the firsttransparency. Each of the plurality of dosing indicia may further berectangular, of a different color, and include a volumetric indication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D are perspective views of a medicine-dosing device accordingto one embodiment of the current disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-2D are perspective views of a medicine-dosing device accordingto another embodiment of the current disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3D are plan views of the labels with the color-coded medicationdoses.

FIG. 4 is flow diagram showing a method of determining and printing thecolor-coded medication dose labels.

FIG. 5 is flow diagram showing a method of administering a medicationusing the disclosed pre-filled and marked medicine-dosing device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a measuring instrument used to determine acolor-coded length of a patient.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary emergency medical treatment kit foradministering a medication according to one embodiment of the currentdisclosure.

FIGS. 8A-8F includes data showing improvements in the drug deliveryusing the system and methods of the current disclosure.

FIGS. 9A-9B illustrate alternative methods of administering a medicationaccording to some embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate exemplary labels with the color-codedmedication doses according to several embodiments.

FIG. 11 depicts an embodiment of a dosing system including a pre-labeledmedicine dosing/dispensing device designed to facilitate delivery ofsequential doses of medication to a patient in a safe manner.

FIG. 12 illustrates a dosing system including a pre-labeled medicinedosing/dispensing device having stair-stepped dosing indicators designedto facilitate delivery of sequential doses of medication to any one ofmultiple different-sized patients.

FIGS. 13-17B depict a medicine dispensing device in the form of asyringe 1300 configured to deliver either or both of treatment dosagesand prophylaxis dosages of a particular drug.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are exemplary tables identifying prophylaxis ortreatment doses corresponding to a patient's color zone.

FIGS. 19A and 19B, and 20A and 20B depict a syringe having a series ofmulti-segment color-coded bands of varying widths.

FIGS. 21-22 depict a medicine dispensing device in the form of a syringeconfigured with dosing indications associated with different medicalconditions.

FIGS. 23A and 23B are exemplary dosing tables for use with the syringeof FIGS. 21-22 which advantageously enable the syringe to deliver thesame drug for different medical conditions having different dosingrequirements.

FIG. 24 illustrates a syringe having a single color-coded dosing scale.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are different dosing tables for a particular drug foruse in conjunction with the syringe of FIG. 24 in connection with dosingfor different medical conditions.

FIGS. 26A-26C is a first embodiment of a dosing system in which color isused to represent dosing volume for multiple scenarios or medicalconditions.

FIGS. 27A-27C is a second embodiment of a dosing system in which coloris used to represent dosing volume for multiple scenarios or medicalconditions.

FIGS. 28A-28B show an embodiment of a medicine dispensing deviceaccording to the present disclosure having color-coded zone markings andnumerical volumetric markings.

FIGS. 29A-C show views of a label that may be printed to manufacture amedicine dispensing device of the present disclosure.

FIG. 30 illustrates an embodiment of a medicine dispensing device in theform of a syringe having two stair-stepped dosing indicators.

FIGS. 31A and 31B illustrate a front and back side of a medicinedispensing device in the form of syringe for administering a liquidmedicine with a set of stair-step dosing indicia.

FIG. 32 illustrates a medicine dispensing device in the form of a spoonfor administering liquid medication implementing stair-step dosingindicia.

FIG. 33A shows a front perspective view of a medicine dispensing deviceof the present disclosure having a set of stair-step dosing indiciacomprising different colors and two transparency levels for each dose.

FIG. 33B shows a front elevation view of the medicine dispensing deviceof FIG. 33A.

FIG. 33C shows a rear elevation view of the medicine dispensing deviceof FIG. 33A.

FIG. 33D shows a right-side view of the medicine dispensing device ofFIG. 33A.

FIG. 33E shows a left side view of the medicine dispensing device ofFIG. 33A.

FIG. 33F shows a top view of the medicine dispensing device of FIG. 33A.

FIG. 33G shows a bottom view of the medicine dispensing device of FIG.33A.

FIG. 34A shows a front perspective view of a medicine dispensing deviceof the present disclosure having a set of stair-step dosing indiciacomprising different colors for each dose.

FIG. 34B shows a front elevation view of the medicine dispensing deviceof FIG. 34A.

FIG. 34C shows a rear elevation view of the medicine dispensing deviceof FIG. 34A.

FIG. 34D shows a right-side view of the medicine dispensing device ofFIG. 34A.

FIG. 34E shows a left side view of the medicine dispensing device ofFIG. 34A.

FIG. 34F shows a top view of the medicine dispensing device of FIG. 34A.

FIG. 34G shows a bottom view of the medicine dispensing device of FIG.34A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application describes a device, system, and a method foradministering proper medication doses to patients. The device and systemare configured to address the five “rights” of medicine delivery; thatis, giving the right patient the right drug in the right dose by theright route at the right time. In particular, a pre-marked medicinedosing/dispensing device designed to minimize medication dosing errors,as well as to improve the overall accuracy and efficiency ofadministering medication, especially in the emergency and critical caresituations, is provided.

As discussed in detail below, in one embodiment the medicine dosingdevice 10 is a syringe 15 that includes an elongate barrel 30 markedwith predetermined color-coded volumetric medicine doses 100 and aplunger 50. The medicine-dosing device, according to one embodiment, maybe further pre-filled with a fluid 105 that corresponds to a medicationto be administered to a patient. A method for determining specificvolumetric doses for a plurality of medications based on differentfactors is also disclosed. In particular, according to one embodimentthe method involves generating labels or marking medical dosing deviceswith doses that are determined based on, for example, volumetriccapacity of medical dosing device and/or drug concentration.

Also, a method for administering proper medication doses using thepre-marked medicine-dosing device is discussed. The method disclosedleads to a significant reduction in the amount of time required todetermine and administer a dose of medication to a patient and at thesame time decreases the risk that such doses will be miscalculated orotherwise erroneously administered.

Device

For a detailed discussion of the first embodiment of the pre-labeledmedicine dosing/dispensing device 10, reference is now made to FIGS.1A-1D. As shown in FIG. 1A, the medicine dosing device 10 according toone embodiment is a syringe 15 that includes a proximal end 25 and adistal end 20 opposite the proximal end. The syringe includes a vessel,such as a syringe barrel 30 at the distal end for holding therein amedicine that is to be dispensed, and a plunger 50 that extendsproximally from an opening 36 located at the proximal end 35 of thesyringe barrel to the proximal end 55 of the plunger at the proximal end25. The syringe barrel and plunger are both manufactured from materialsuch as plastic, glass or any other suitable transparent medical gradematerial that is inert or will not disrupt the chemical balance of thefluid inside.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B the syringe barrel 30 is elongate andsubstantially cylindrical and includes a distal end 31 and a proximalend 35. The syringe barrel further includes and outer circumferentialsurface 37 and an inner circumferential surface 38. A chamber 32 capableof receiving a plunger and retaining a fluid therein is defined by theinner circumferential surface 38 of the barrel between the distal andproximal ends 31 and 35. A flange 33, which can serve as a finger gripto provide for an easier handing of the syringe, is integrally formedwith the proximal end of the barrel and defines an opening 36 forreceiving the plunger. Proximate the opening 36, along the inner surfaceof the barrel, is a ridge 34, shown in FIG. 1C, that prevents theplunger from slipping out of the barrel once it is engaged with thebarrel.

The opening 36 is in communication with the chamber 32 and an orifice 39located at the distal end 20 of the syringe barrel. A tip 40 forattaching a needle, nozzle or tubing for expelling the liquid containedwithin the syringe barrel 30 is integrally formed with the distal end 20of the barrel and in communication with the orifice 39. The tip mayinclude coaxially positioned inner 41 and outer 42 members. According toone embodiment the tip may include a Luer taper fitting. In someembodiments, the tip may be configured based on the type of drug thatthe syringe is used to deliver. For example, oral tips may be used onsyringes configured for medicines that are oral, and in particular, theoral tip may be different from an intravenous (“IV”) or intermuscular(“IM”) tip, thereby ensuring that the medicine is delivered by the rightroute. Similarly, syringes configured for IV and IM drugs may beconfigured with IV and IM tips, respectively, such that they, too, canonly be delivered via the right route.

The plunger 50, according to one embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, includes aplunger rod 51 and a rubber or plastic gasket or stopper 52 attached tothe distal end 56 of the plunger rod. The gasket forms a tight sealbetween the inner surface of the barrel and the plunger in order toprevent the contents of the syringe from escaping out the back of thesyringe. An annular flange 53 is integrally formed with the proximal end55 of the plunger rod. The plunger 50 has an elongate shapecomplementary to that of the chamber 30 and is designed such that it canbe pushed along the chamber (inside of the cylindrical barrel or tube)allowing the syringe to expel fluid through the tip 40 or orifice 39 atthe distal end of the barrel. Alternatively, the plunger can include anyother configuration capable of forcing the fluid from inside the chamber30 through the tip 40 or orifice 39.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicinedosing device may be prefilled with a pre-selected drug. Initially, whenthe medicine dosing device is prefilled and the syringe is in thepre-medication administration position, the substantial length of theplunger rod extends longitudinally outside of the syringe barrel. Inother words, as shown in FIG. 1A, prior to the administration of themedicine, only the gasket 52 and the distal end 56 of the plunger rodare initially inside the syringe barrel, at the proximal end 35 of thebarrel, with the remaining part of the plunger length outside of thebarrel such that its proximal end 55 is in its most extendedconfiguration.

Alternatively, the medicine dosing device may not be prefilled. Themedicine dosing device may be marked, for example, with a drug name,concentration, volumetric markings, color coded zones, and/or the like.In embodiments, the medicine dosing device may have a “stair-stepped”visual dosing indicator, which will be described more thoroughly laterin the disclosure. A medical professional may draw the drug (i.e., thedrug with the name marked on the device) with the proper concentrationinto the medicine dosing device to reach the appropriate volumetricmarkings and/or color-coded zones. In some embodiments, the medicinedosing device comes as a part of a kit that includes a medicine vesselcontaining the drug to be administered. The drug in the medicine vesselmay be drawn into the medicine dosing device immediately prior to thedrug administration process. In such embodiments, the plunger rod mayremain inside the syringe barrel until the drug is drawn into thesyringe.

According to another embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, syringe 15 may includean elongate barrel 70 and a plunger 80 marked with predeterminedcolor-coded volumetric medicine doses 100 and/or prefilled with a fluid105 that corresponds to a medication to be administered to a patient. Inthis configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 2C the syringe barrelincludes an inner tubular body 75 that is generally coaxially alignedwith the larger diameter of the cylindrical barrel. The inner tubularbody has a needle 76 coaxially positioned within the inner tubular bodyand longitudinally aligned with the inner tubular body. The plunger 80,shown in FIG. 2D, includes a substantially cylindrical member or vial 81and a stopper 82. Because the syringe barrel and the plunger areinitially separated, as shown in FIG. 2B, prior to the administration ofthe medication, the plunger 80 needs to be inserted into the proximalend 35 of the syringe barrel, such that the stopper 82 fully engageswith the inner tubular body 75 and the needle 76.

According to yet another embodiment of the current disclosure theplunger and/or plunger stopper can be color coded based on themedication contained in the barrel. Such color coding of the plunger canfurther increase efficiency with which medication is administered andcan make the administration even less error prone as visual inspectionof the plunger can provide a quick verification of the correctness ofthe medication to be administered. Alternatively, or in addition to thecolor-coded plunger and/or plunger stopper, the plunger and/or plungerstopper may be further marked with the name and/or concentration of thedrug to further limit the possibility that a mistake is made.

Alternatively, the medicine dosing device can include any vessel, suchas for example a tube, vial, bag, cup, spoon, or bottle, capable ofcontaining therein and expelling therefrom a desired medicine. Forexample, the medicine dosing device could be a bag containing an IVfluid. According to this embodiment, the bag may be marked with a seriesof color-coded zones along with the traditional volume markings. Whenused in combination with the traditional volume markings, thecolor-coded zones could serve as a reminder to the medical personnel ofa correct volume of each medication that can be given to a patient basedon the patient's color zone. The color-coded zones may also be used as akey for entering a correct total volume to be dispensed into the IV pumpfor a given medication.

The description will now turn to the markings on the surface of themedicine dosing device. In case of a syringe, the markings may be placedalong a circumferential surface of the syringe barrel or plunger. Asshown in FIGS. 1 through 3, the markings include a series ofsubstantially translucent bands or zones 100 indicative of the possiblemedicine doses to be administered to a patient. Although the markingsshown in the figures include a series of color-coded zones, the markingscould also include zones with different patterns, textures, etc.Regardless of the type of the marking used, the markings are eitherdirectly imprinted, painted, etched or stained on an inside or outsidesurface of the medicine dosing device or a label or sleeve may begenerated that can be affixed or placed over the outer surface of themedicine dosing device. The applied markings are such that the fluidlevel, once the device is filled, can be easily seen through themarkings.

FIG. 3A shows a plurality of labels in accordance with one embodiment ofthe current disclosure. Each label 300 is substantially rectangular inshape and is sized based on the volumetric capacity of the medicaldosing device to which the label is to be affixed. In other words,because of the volumetric variations among the medicine dosing devicesand as a result of variations in the circumferential outer surface ofsuch devices, the size or dimensions of the label is adjustedaccordingly to ensure that it properly covers the outer surface of theof the medical dosing device. For example, when labels are made forsyringes with two different volumetric barrel capacities, the label sizeis either increased or decreased in both length and width to accommodatefor the changes in the outer surface of the barrel.

Along with the changes in the label size, appropriate correspondingchanges to the widths of the color bands or zones that are printed onthe label are also made based on medicine dosing device used to dispensethe medication. More specifically, in order to take into account thevariations in the volume of a medicine-dispensing device, the changes tothe widths of the color bands or zones need to be made in order tomaintain the same volumetric dose of medicine across various medicinedispensing devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, labels for thesame medicine loaded into a 10 cc medicine dispensing device and 5 ccdispensing device have two different widths for each color band or zonein order to keep the medicine doses the same for both medicine dosingdevices. In other words, in order to dispense the same amount ofmedication using a 10 cc dispensing device as compared to using a 5 ccdispensing device, the width of the color bands 351A-359A on the label310 for the 10 cc device would be smaller than the color bands 351B-359Bon the label 305 for the 5 cc dispensing device in order to deliver thesame amount of medication to the patient.

Similarly, the concentration of the medication that is used also affectsthe widths of the color bands or zones printed on the label. Morespecifically, the widths of the color bands or zones are determinedbased on the concentration of the medication, with the medication at ahigher concentration corresponding to a smaller volumetric dose, orsmaller band width, than the medication at a lower concentration.

As depicted in FIG. 3C the label 300 has opposing parallel sides 315 and320 and opposing parallel ends 325 and 330 and includes a series ofconsecutive color bands or zones 351 through 359 of varying widths thatcorrespond to the medication doses for patients with a particularcharacteristic. The characteristic may correspond to patient length (asdiscussed above), patient weight, patient age, patient surfacearea/volume, and/or the like. More specifically, each color band has awidth that is defined by leading 335 and trailing 340 edges that areparallel to the opposing ends 325 and 330 of the label and which, oncethe label is affixed to the medicine dispensing device, corresponds involume to a predetermined dose of medicine appropriate for the patientcharacteristic of a patient that falls within a predefined color-codedrange. In other words, each color band or zone on the label represents amedication dose correlated to respective color-coded length range,weight range, age range, surface area/volume range, or otherphysiological characteristic.

Still referring to FIG. 3C, according to one embodiment, nine distinctcolor bands 351-359 can be used to distinguish between nine differentdoses of medication corresponding to nine distinct color-coded patientcharacteristic ranges. More specifically, each of the colors correspondsto one of nine different doses of a specific medication. As shown in theFIG. 3C, in one particular implementation, band colors may include grey351, pink 352, red 353, purple 354, yellow 355, white 356, blue 357,orange 358 and green 359, with the grey color band corresponding to thesmallest dose of the medication and the green color band correspondingto the largest dose of medication that can be delivered. A solid blackline(s) 365 may be utilized at the boundaries between the various colorbands or zones to facilitate the process of drug administration as willbe discussed in more detail below. Although the discussion will be madewith reference to the specific colors shown in the FIGS. 3A-3C, it canbe readily appreciated that other colors or markings may be used.Alternatively, or additionally, color names may be printed within theband or zone widths in addition to or instead of colors.

According to yet another embodiment shown in FIG. 3D, a label mayinclude ten different bands of colors with the tenth band 360corresponding to the largest dose of medication that can be delivered.In this particular embodiment the largest dose can correspond to theuniversal dose that can be delivered to any patient whose characteristic(e.g., length, weight, etc.) falls outside of the previously disclosedcolored ranges. For example, the universal label in accordance with thisembodiment can be applied to the universal medicine-dosing device thatcan be used for both pediatric and adult patients and as such eliminatesa need for having two separate medicine dosing systems for the twodistinct patient groups.

Although, in the examples provided above a specific number of colorbands have been discussed, it should be noted that any number of colorbands that allow for more precise medicine dosing can be used. In somecases, the previously defined bands or zones can be further subdividedinto sub-band or sub-zone to allow for a more precise medicine dosing.As a non-limiting example, in some embodiments, there may be thirty-sixmarkings (sub-zones) within nine color zones. This may increaseprecision when administering a drug to a patient.

Also, in accordance with another embodiment of the current disclosure,and as shown in FIG. 3C one of the label edges can include a mark 370that would help ensure that the label is correctly affixed or positionedon the syringe or plunger. For example, the label edge that is to bealigned with the distal end of the syringe barrel can be marked in orderto prevent affixing the label to the barrel in the reverse direction,and thus leading to the incorrect doses being administered at a latertime. For example, the edge of the label with the color bandcorresponding to the smallest dose can include a mark at its leadingedge that facilitates the alignment of the label with a distal end ofthe syringe barrel.

Furthermore, in accordance with another embodiment as shown in FIG. 3A,the label may include the name of the medication that is to beadministered or any other information that maybe important to ensuringthat a correct medication would be administered to the patient. Inparticular, the name of the medication can be imprinted along the lengthof the label or any other position as long as it provides for an easyverification of the correctness of the medicine in the medicine-dosingdevice. Additionally, for drugs that are administered at time intervals,the label may be marked with the corresponding time interval, or aseparate calendar, either paper or electronic, may be provided such thatthe patient and/or medical professionals can keep track of dosingintervals.

Method of Determining and Generating Dosing Information

The discussion will now turn to a method 400 for determining themedicine doses for a plurality of medications and medicine dispensingdevices. In one particular example, shown in FIG. 4, the method mayinclude generating of a color-coded dose label that can be applied to aselected medical dosing device. As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400begins at step 401 during which the selection of the medicine for whichthe dosing label is to be generated is made. As related to emergency orcritical care situations some of the most commonly used medicationsinclude, for example, atropine, lidocaine, fentanyl, epinephrine,etomidate, ketamine, succinylcholine, rocuronium, and midazolam to namea few. However, it should be appreciated that the method can be equallyapplied to any other medication that can be administered using thedisclosed medicine dispensing device.

Once the medication for which a label is to be generated is identified,the doses of the drug for each of the color-coded characteristic (e.g.,length, weight, etc.) zones previously discussed is determined at step402. Depending on the drug, the width of the color-coded zones maydiffer. Table 1 below provides doses in mg for some of the above listeddrugs. As can be seen in Table 1, the doses for each drug differ notonly based on the type of the drug but also based on the length (i.e.,characteristic) of the patient. Thus, for example, as shown in Table 1,a dose for a patient falling within the yellow color-coded length zoneis 26 mg for succinylcholine and 13 mg for rocuronium. In case the samedrug is to be administered to two different patients whose length fallswithin different color-coded lengths, two different medication doseswould be used as shown. For example, in the case of epinephrine, withone of the patient lengths being coded as red and the other as blue, thedose of medication to be administered to each patient would be 0.085 mgand 0.21 mg, respectively. Alternatively, doses of the drug may bedetermined based on dosing recommendations other than those based on thelength of the patient, such as, for example, the patient's weight, age,surface area/volume, and/or the like.

After the dose to be administered to the patient is determined at step402, the drug concentration for the drug selected in step 401 is thendetermined at step 403. The concentration of the drug is directlyrelated to the volume that needs to be administered. In other words, asmaller volume of the same medication needs to be administered for asolution with a higher concentration than for a solution with a lowerconcentration.

The next step, step 404, involves selection of a medicine dispensingdevice to which the label is to be applied. As described above, becausemedicine dispensing devices come in various volumetric sizes, a medicinedispensing device's conversion factor that is based on the length andwidth of the medicine dosing device and/or the concentration of themedication may be used to take into account the variations in sizeand/or shape of different medicine dispensing devices for which thelabel is to be generated. Thus, once the medicine dispensing device of aparticular volume is selected for administering the selected medication,a corresponding conversion factor listed in Table 1 can be used in orderto calculate both the individual color band/zone widths and a total bandwidths that correspond to the determined medication doses (step 405).More specifically, the width of each color band/zone that corresponds tothe determined medication dose is calculated based on the dose of thedrug to be administered, the solution concentration and medicinedispensing device volumetric capacity. According to one embodiment allof the calculations may be performed by a computer processing unit (CPU)in response to a user provided input.

Applying of the label to the medicine dosing device may take place oncethe width of each color-band or zone is determined and the label isprinted. For instance, when the label is to be applied to a syringehaving a barrel and a plunger, with the barrel designed for holding themedicine that is to be dispensed, the label may be place along the outercircumferential surface of the barrel by aligning one of the edges ofthe label that corresponds to a color band of the smallest dosing withthe distal edge of the syringe barrel of the medicine dispensing device10. Alternatively, in a syringe in which a plunger serves as a vesselfor holding the medicine, the label may be placed along the outercircumferential surface of the plunger by aligning one of the edges ofthe label that corresponds to a color band of the smallest dosing withthe proximal end of the medicine dosing device.

Although the pre-calculated band/zone widths for each of the selectedmedication, medicine dispensing device volumetric capacity and solutionconcentration may be printed on a label that can be applied to themedicine dispensing device, the dosing information may also be directlyimprinted, etched, stained or painted on the medicine dispensing device.Alternatively, the dosing information can be printed on a sleeve orlabel that can be placed over the medicine dispensing device. Inembodiments, a dosing label may be fixedly attached to the medicinedispensing device such that it does not move once attached.

Depending on the embodiment, the appropriately labeled medicine-dosingdevice may be prefilled with a desired medication, with the fluid volumecorresponding to the maximum dose that can be administered to thepatient whose, for example, length falls within the maximum length zone.When the medicine dosing unit is prefilled with the selected medicationthe label can be applied either before or after the medicine dosingdevice is filled. In case the medicine dosing device is filled with aselected medication immediately prior to the medication administrationprocess, as might be the case when the medicine dosing device isincluded as a part of a kit that includes the medical dosing device anda vessel filled with a drug to be administered, an empty pre-labeledmedicine dosing device is supplied for use.

Accordingly, a fluid volume that corresponds to a predetermined dose fora given patient may be drawn into the pre-labeled medicine dosing devicefrom the container immediately prior to drug administration.

TABLE 1 Medicine Color band Color-Coded Concentration Dosing Conversionor zone Total Distance Drug Length Dose (mg) (mg/ml) Device (cc) Factor(mm/cc) width (mm) (mm) Epinephrine Gray 0.04 0.1 3 16 6.4 6.4 Pink0.065 0.1 3 16 4 10.4 Red 0.085 0.1 3 16 3.2 13.6 Purple 0.1 0.1 3 162.4 16 Yellow 0.13 0.1 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 0.17 0.1 3 16 6.4 27.2 Blue0.21 0.1 3 16 6.4 33.6 Orange 0.27 0.1 3 16 9.6 43.2 Green 0.33 0.1 3 169.6 52.8 Fentanyl Gray 12 50 3 16 3.84 3.84 Pink 20 50 3 16 2.56 6.4 Red25 50 3 16 1.6 8 Purple 32 50 3 16 2.24 10.24 Yellow 40 50 3 16 2.5612.8 White 50 50 3 16 3.2 16 Blue 63 50 3 16 4.16 20.16 Orange 80 50 316 5.44 25.6 Green 100 50 3 16 6.4 32 Midazolam-RSI Gray 1.2 1 12 5.166.192 6.129 Pink 2 1 12 5.16 4.128 10.32 Red 2.5 1 12 5.16 2.58 12.9Purple 3.2 1 12 5.16 3.612 16.512 Yellow 4 1 12 5.16 4.128 20.64 White 51 12 5.16 5.16 25.8 Blue 6.3 1 12 5.16 6.708 32.508 Orange 8 1 12 5.168.772 41.28 Green 10 1 12 5.16 10.32 51.6 Ketamine Gray 6.75 10 6 8 5.45.4 Pink 13 10 6 8 5 10.4 Red 17 10 6 8 3.2 13.6 Purple 20 10 6 8 2.4 16Yellow 26 10 6 8 4.8 20.8 White 33 10 6 8 5.6 26.4 Blue 42 10 6 8 7.233.6 Orange 50 10 6 8 6.4 40 Green 66 10 6 8 12.8 52.8 Etomidate Gray0.9 2 5 9 4.05 4.05 Pink 2 2 5 9 4.95 9 Red 2.5 2 5 9 2.25 11.25 Purple3.2 2 5 9 3.15 14.4 Yellow 4 2 5 9 3.6 18 White 5 2 5 9 4.5 22.5 Blue6.3 2 5 9 5.85 28.35 Orange 8 2 5 9 7.65 36 Green 10 2 5 9 9 45 AtropineGray 0.1 0.1 5 9 9 9 Pink 0.13 0.1 5 9 2.7 11.7 Red 0.17 0.1 5 9 3.615.3 Purple 021 0.1 5 9 3.6 18.9 Yellow 0.26 0.1 5 9 4.5 23.4 White 0.330.1 5 9 6.3 29.7 Blue 0.42 0.1 5 9 8.1 37.8 Orange 0.5 0.1 5 9 7.2 45Green 0.5 0.1 5 9 0 45 Succinylcholine Gray 8 20 3 16 6.4 6.4 Pink 13 203 16 4 10.4 Red 17 20 3 16 3.2 13.6 Purple 20 20 3 16 2.4 16 Yellow 2620 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 30 20 3 16 3.2 24 Blue 40 20 3 16 8 32 Orange 5320 3 16 10.4 42.4 Green 66 20 3 16 10.4 52.8 Rocuronium Gray 4 10 3 166.4 6.4 Pink 7 10 3 16 4.8 11.2 Red 9 10 3 16 3.2 14.4 Purple 10 10 3 161.6 16 Yellow 13 10 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 16 10 3 16 4.8 25.6 Blue 21 10 316 8 33.6 Orange 27 10 3 16 9.6 43.2 Green 33 10 3 16 9.6 52.8Lidocaine-RSI Gray 6 20 3 16 4.8 4.8 Pink 10 20 3 16 3.2 8 Red 13 20 316 2.4 10.4 Purple 15 20 3 16 1.6 12 Yellow 20 20 3 16 4 16 White 25 203 16 4 20 Blue 32 20 3 16 5.6 25.6 Orange 40 20 3 16 6.4 32 Green 50 203 16 8 40

Method of Administering Drugs

The medicine dosing device assembled according to the steps discussedabove may be used to safely and efficiently deliver drugs. FIG. 5 is aflow diagram 500 of a method for administering drugs to a patient usingthe disclosed medicine dosing device 10 according to one embodiment. Inthis particular example, the disclosed method provides steps forefficiently administering a selected medicine to a patient from aprefilled and pre-marked medicine dosing device. As shown in the figure,the method begins at step 501 at which a color-coded length or any otherphysical characteristic of the patient is determined. In case of thelength, a Broselow tape or any other similar type of instrument thatprovides color-coded length ranges can be used at this step. As shown inFIG. 6, the color-coded length may be obtained by placing a patient 600along the tape 601 and noting the color-coded length of the patient onthe tape. Alternatively, any other physiological characteristic, such asfor example, weight, age, body surface area or volume, that can be colorcoded and correlated to medication doses can be used.

Once the patient length or any other physiological characteristic isdetermined and/or coded to a specific color range, a pre-filled medicinedispensing device 10 containing medication to be administered isselected at step 502. The medication selection is verified by eitherreading the name of the medication imprinted along the outer surface ofthe pre-filled medicine dispensing device or by verifying the color ofthe plunger rod as discussed above.

After the color code for the patient length or other characteristic isdetermined and noted and the correctness of the medicine to beadministered is verified, the appropriate dose of medication to bedispensed or its corresponding volume is determined at step 503. Theappropriate dose may be determined by a physician or other medicalprofessional who calculates the appropriate dose based on at least onepatient characteristic. The calculated dose may be a precise amount of adrug to be administered. Additionally, the physician or other medicalprofessional who administers the medication may determine a color codefor the patient based on at least one patient characteristic. Forexample, if the patient length or other characteristic is determined asfalling within the blue color range on the measuring tape, the volume ofmedication to be administered to the patient will be the volume withinthe blue color band or zone on the medicine dosing device.

Because (in this embodiment) the medicine dispensing unit is prefilledwith medication, the appropriate dose of medicine can be obtained bypurging any excess of medication from the prefilled syringe until thecalculated volume (dose) of the medication is reached as indicated instep 504. In other words, with the prefilled volume of the medicinedispensing device may correspond to the maximum dose that can beadministered to a patient. Therefore, unless the calculated dose is themaximum possible dose, some of the medication has to be purged from theprefilled medicine-dosing device prior to administering of the drug.

Thus, according to one embodiment the plunger is pushed along the insideof the barrel toward the distal end 31 of the barrel until the proximalend of the plunger 54 arrives at the calculated dose.

Once the administering medical professional has purged the excessmedicine such that the calculated dose is the only medication thatremains in the medicine dosing device, the administering medicalprofessional verifies that the calculated dose, and the amount ofmedication that remains in the medicine dosing device, is within thecolor coded range determined for the patient. For example, in case ofthe above mentioned patient whose length or other characteristic wascoded as being blue, with the blue band having a leading edge proximatethe distal end of the barrel and the trailing edge proximate theproximal end of the barrel, the plunger is pushed toward the distal endof the barrel until the distal end of the plunger is aligned with thecalculated dose, and then the administering medical professional ensuresthat the plunger is between the leading edge and trailing edge of theblue band. Once all the excess fluid is purged from the prefilled dosingdevice per step 504, the correctness of the medicine dose is verified atstep 505 and the medicine is then administered to the patient at step506.

Alternatively, according to another embodiment, the medicine-dosingdevice can be used to administer drugs to patients following the methodshown in FIG. 7A. In particular, the method for administering drugs canbegin with the selection of an emergency medical treatment kit thatincludes a drug to be administered to the patient (step 701). As shownin FIG. 7B, the medical treatment kit may include a container, such asbox, bag, pouch or any other suitable container capable of holding themedicine dosing device therein, labeled on the outside surface with thename of the medication contained in the container among other things.For example, according to one embodiment, in addition to having the nameof the drug listed on the label, the label may also include informationon the concentration of the drug and/or instruction on how to use thekit to administer the drug. The medical treatment kit may furtherinclude a pre-marked medicine dosing device, such as for example asyringe, with the color-coded zones calibrated to the different drugdoses for the selected drug. The syringe markings may also include thename of the drug that is to be delivered or any other information thatmay be helpful in ensuring that the drug is correctly delivered to thepatient. The medical treatment kit may also include a needle, such as ablunt filling needle that can be plastic or made of any other suitablematerial, for facilitating drawing of the drug into the syringe. Themedical treatment kit may also contain a container, such a bottle, vial,etc., for holding the drug that is labeled with the drug name on theoutside of the container. The container may include a stopper or a lidthat helps to contain the drug inside the container. The stopper or lidmay be made from, for example, rubber or any other suitable materialthat can be easily punctured with the filling needle, such that the drugfrom the container can be easily drawn into the medicine-dosing device.

If more than one drug is included in the kit, the corresponding vialsand syringes for each drug may be positioned within the packaging toensure that there is no confusion as to which vial corresponds to whichsyringe. Additionally, differently colored plungers will help to ensurethat the correct medication is given to the patient in the correctorder. For example, in a situation where two drugs are beingadministered in a specified order, the kit may include a first drug in afirst vial with a first syringe marked with the color zones for thefirst drug, and a second drug in a second vial with a second syringemarked with the color zones for the second drug. To ensure that thefirst vial and first syringe do not get confused with the second vialand second syringe, the plungers in the syringes may be colored. Thecolor of the label and/or lid of the first vial may be marked with thesame color as the plunger of the first syringe, and the color of thelabel and/or lid of the second vial may be marked with the same color asthe plunger of the second syringe. This way, when the drug is beingadministered, the administrating medical professional can easily to makesure that the correct vial/drug-syringe combination is being used.

Alternatively, or additionally, when the drugs need to be delivered in aparticular order, the ends of the plungers may be marked numerically toindicate the order in which the drugs are to be delivered. For example,if the first drug to be administered has a green plunger and the seconddrug to be administered has a yellow plunger, the end of the greenplunger may have a number “1” on the end and the end of the yellowplunger may have a number “2” on the end. The vials may also be markednumerically.

In case drug doses are based on patient's length, the color-coded lengthof the patient may be determined using an instrument such as a Broselowtape or any other similar type of device that provides color-codedlength ranges as discussed above with reference to FIG. 6.Alternatively, other patient characteristics may be used to determine acolor-coded range. Appropriate volume of the drug to be administered maybe subsequently determined based on the patient length, and the patientlength may be correlated to a color code. The determined drug volume maybe then drawn into the medicine-dosing device, and the administeringmedical professional verifies that the determined drug volume is withinthe color code corresponding to the patient. Once the dose is verified,the drug can then be administered to the patient. According to oneembodiment as shown in FIG. 7, when the medicine-dosing device is asyringe with a pre-attached filling needle, the filling needle might bedisposed of prior to the administration of the medication.

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, eliminating the step of calculating dosesthat need to be administered in the high stress environment, as well aseliminating the steps of selecting appropriate medicine dosing devicehelps to eliminate critical dosing errors, such as critical over dose orcritical under dose errors, that usually arise when conventional devicesand methods are used. Also, frequency and severity of non-criticalerrors as compared to the traditional methods can be reduced as shown inFIGS. 8C and 8D. Lastly, as shown in FIGS. 8E and 8F, time to prepareand deliver medication, as well as time to deliver medications whenpreparing for rapid sequence intubations (RSI) may be significantlyreduced when the medicine-dosing device according to the currentdisclosure is used as compared to the conventional devices. As such thepre-labeled medicine dispensing device designed and used in accordancewith the disclosed embodiments provides for more simplified, accurateand efficient drug delivery in emergency and critical care situations.

In another embodiment, the dose may be calculated, and the colorband/zone may be used to verify that the calculated dose is within asafe range based on at least one patient characteristic. For example, aprecise dosage may be calculated based on a patient characteristic, suchas patient weight, and to ensure that calculated dose is safe to give apatient, the person administering the drug ensures that the dose iswithin the correct color band/zone before administering the drug. Thecolor bands/zones may be smaller for certain medications that requiremore precision. In such situations, a smaller range, or even exactprecision, may be required in the correlation between the patientcharacteristic and the dosage.

By first calculating a dose and then verifying that the determined doseis within a safe range (i.e., color zone) for the patient, errors indosing can be avoided because everyone in the chain of drug delivery isable to identify when an error has been made. For example, a physicianmay calculate a dose, but a nurse (or a second doctor) may administerthe medication to the patient. If an error in calculation occurs, or ifthe administering medical professional misreads the calculated dose, theadministering professional will know that an error is made beforeadministering the drug to the patient, because the dose is outside ofthe color zone that corresponds to the patient. (In some embodiments,the patient's color zone may be determined at the time the drug isadministered, may be marked on the patient's chart, such as with amarker, barcode that can be scanned, etc., or the child may be asked towear an arm band in the color that corresponds to the child's safe colorzone).

FIG. 9A shows an exemplary flow chart of such an embodiment. Acolor-coded zone may be determined based on at least one patientcharacteristic 905. The patient characteristic may be a patient length,patient weight, patient age, patient surface area/volume, and/or thelike. In some embodiments, the color-coded zone may be determined basedon patient weight, such as by using the chart shown in FIGS. 9C and/or9D. The drug to be administered to the patient may be determined 910,and a pre-marked dispensing device may be selected 915. In someembodiments, the pre-marked dispensing device may be specificallytailored to the drug (e.g., both the drug name and concentration) beingadministered to the patient, and the device may have a series of colorcoded zones that correspond to drug doses that can be administered. Thecolor-coded zones may be of varying widths and may correspond to volumesof the drug that are safe to administer to patients with at least onephysical characteristic and/or within a range of the at least onephysical characteristic.

A drug dose to be administered to the patient may be determined 920. Insome embodiments, the determination of the drug dose is based oncalculations made by a physician or other medical professional. Forexample, the physician may know that a patient having a certain physicalcharacteristic, such as a weight within a predetermined range, shouldreceive a certain amount of the drug (e.g., based on FDA guidelines).The amount of a drug to be given to a patient may be in units of weight(e.g., milligrams). When delivering a drug in liquid form, however, theunits are in terms of volume (e.g., milligrams/milliliter). Thus, themedical professional must determine how many milliliters of the drug todeliver to the patient in order to give the proper dose (e.g.,milligrams) of the drug to the patient.

Once the drug dose has been determined, the dispensing device may befilled with a volume of the drug based on the determined drug dose 925.The person administering the drug, such as a physician, nurse,technician, physician assistant, and/or the like, may verify that thevolume of the drug filled in the dispensing device corresponds with thedetermined color-coded zone 930. Assuming the volume is within the zone,the drug dose may be administered to the patient using the dispensingdevice 935. In some embodiments, if the volume is not within the zone,the dose may not be administered to the patient. For example, the drugdose may be re-determined. In other embodiments, the dose may beadministered as long as it is not above the determined zone.

FIG. 9B shows another exemplary flow chart of such an embodiment. Thedrug being administered may be selected 950, and a dose of the drug maybe determined and/or calculated 955. The dose may be based on a patientcharacteristic, such as a patient length, patient weight, patient age,patient surface area/volume, and/or the like. A color-coded zone mayalso be determined based on the same or based on a different patientcharacteristic 960. The calculated dose may be drawn into the drugdispensing device 965. For example, when the drug dispensing device is asyringe, the calculated dose may be drawn into the syringe from a vial.The syringe may be marked with a plurality of color-coded zones, asshown in FIG. 10B. In order to ensure that a safe dose is administered,the calculated dose should be within the determined color-coded zone970. If the determined dose is within, and in some embodiments lessthan, the color-coded zone, the dose is administered to the patient 975.If the determined dose is not within the color-coded zone, for example,if the determined dose is greater than the color-coded zone, the dose isnot administered. The excess drug may be expelled from the drugdispensing device, or the dose may be re-calculated (re-determined) inorder to ensure that the calculations were performed correctly.

FIG. 9C shows an exemplary chart for determining the color-coded zonefor a patient based on patient weight in kilograms (kg). Such a chartmay be used in hospitals, where weights may be noted in kilograms forease of use in dosage calculations.

FIG. 9D depicts another exemplary color-coded chart in which patientweight is shown in pounds (lbs.). In the embodiment of FIG. 9D, thepatient length (here, in inches (in.)) is also shown. This embodimentmay be particularly useful where doses of medications are delivered athome, since in certain countries (e.g., in the U.S.), patients andcaregivers may be more familiar with pounds and inches than they arewith kilograms and centimeters. Thus, for example, when a parent isadministering epinephrine to their child, they may be able to quicklyreference the chart shown in FIG. 9D to determine that their childshould be administered a dose falling within the color range thatcorresponds to their child's weight and/or height.

FIGS. 10A-B show exemplary color-coded zones for a drug, epinephrine, ata concentration of 1 mg/l ml. The color-coded zones shown in FIG. 10Amay be used when the color-coded zone is used to determine the dose tobe administered to the patient (e.g., using the process shown in FIGS. 5and 7A). In these embodiments, the patient length is used to determinethe color-coded zone, and the color-coded zone determines the dose to beadministered to the patient. In a typical implementation of thedisclosed embodiments, a medical professional administering a drug mayfill the syringe with the drug to the level of the maximum dose for thecolor-coded zone corresponding to the patient. For example, if thepatient's length (or weight, etc.) falls within the white zone, themedical professional administers 0.15 mL of the drug. This may be aslight overdose for patients at the low end of the white color codedzone, and a slight underdose for patients at the high end of the whitecolor coded zone (of course, the slight overdose/underdose is within asafe range of doses for patients that fall within the white zone). Inother embodiments, the doses corresponding to the color zone may be anaccurate dose for patients at the low end of their respectivecolor-coded zone, and may be a slight underdose for patients in themiddle and high end of the color zone.

FIG. 10B shows color coded zones that may be used when the processesshown in FIGS. 9A-9B are used. Here, the calculations may be precise,and the colors are used to double check that the dose is in a saferange. Because dose is calculated and the color-coded zones are used toverify that a proper dose is applied, the color-coded zones can be moreaccurate. As was discussed with reference to FIGS. 9A-9B, theadministering professional fills a syringe to a level corresponding tothe exact dose calculated for the patient and then ensures that thecalculated dose is included within the color-coded zone corresponding tothe patient.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10B the zones are not configured so that aslight overdose/underdose is administered to patients on either side ofeach zone. Instead, each color zone extends only to the maximumacceptable dose for any patient within a zone (e.g., to the maximumacceptable dose for the lightest or shortest patients within the zone).As a result, the volumes of the color-coded zones are shifted betweenFIG. 10A and FIG. 10B. As an example, consider a case in which a patientweighs 14 kg, and is therefore at the top of the ‘yellow’ range. In theembodiment of FIG. 10A, the patient would receive 0.12 mL ofepinephrine. In the embodiment of FIG. 10B, the dose may be calculatedto be 0.14 mL of epinephrine. When this dose is in the medicine dosingdevice, the administering professional sees that the dose is appropriatefor the yellow zone, double checks that the patient is categorized forthe yellow zone, and then administers the drug. Thus, although thepatient receives a higher dose in the embodiment of FIG. 10B, thishigher dose is accurate and safe. To the contrary, if a physician wereto calculate that the patient should receive 0.20 mL of the drug, theadministering professional would see that this dose falls in the bluezone; knowing that the patient is categorized within the yellow zone,the administering professional would not administer the drug. Thisprevents an overdose of the medication and ensures that the patientreceives the correct amount of the drug.

In an exemplary implementation, if a physician calculates a dose for thepatient of 0.15 mL, the medical professional administering the drug willfill the syringe (whether by dispelling the drug from a pre-filleddevice or drawing medication into the device) to the 0.15 mL marker.Next, the medical professional checks the patient's color-coded zone. Ifthe patient is within the white zone, the professional administers thedrug; if the patient is within any other zone, the medical professionaldoes not administer the drug, and instead ensures that the dose isrecalculated. In some embodiments, it may be particularly important forthe medical professional to ensure that the patient is not overdosedwith medication. Thus, if the patient is within a color zone that ishigher than the calculated dose, the administering medical professionalmay administer the drug and then ensure that the remainder of the doseis given (e.g., a ‘blue’ zone patient may be given a ‘white’ zone dose,followed by the remaining dose at a later time. Thus, the 0.15 mL dosemay be administered, and then if the proper dose should have been 0.20mL, the remaining 0.05 mL may be administered).

Attention is now directed to FIG. 11, which depicts an embodiment of adosing system including a pre-labeled medicine dosing/dispensing device1100 designed to facilitate delivery of sequential doses of medicationto a patient in a safe manner. As shown, the dosing device 1100 isprinted, labeled or otherwise marked with a color dosing bar 1104 havingfour dosing segments 1110. In one embodiment the color dosing bar 1104is of a color (i.e., green) that is correlated with a parameter of apatient (e.g., the patient's weight or length). Each of the dosingsegments 1110 identifies a volume of the medication corresponding to agiven medication dose to be provided to the patient. For example, afirst dosing segment 1110 a corresponds to a first dose to be providedto the patient, a second dosing segment 1110 b corresponds to a seconddose to be provided to the patient, a third dosing segment 1110 ccorresponds to a third dose to be provided to the patient, and a fourthdosing segment 1110 d corresponds to a fourth dose to be provided to thepatient.

The dosing system of FIG. 11 has particular utility in situations inwhich the practice of medicine requires that sequential doses of thesame medicine be provided to a patient. Such situations often arise inthe context of emergency treatment where available resources and timemay be limited. For example, in an emergency situation involving acardiac arrest, the same dose of a particular medicine must generally begiven to the cardiac patient during each of a number of successive3-minute intervals. In some situations, up to 20 doses of a medicationmust be sequentially given to a patient before the patient can be safelytransported to a hospital setting for further treatment. Whenconventional dosing instruments are utilized in such emergencyscenarios, critical time can be lost in calculating/measuring medicinedose as well as in getting different preparations of the medicine readyfor administration to the patient.

These shortcomings of conventional dosing approaches can be overcome byutilizing the sequential dosing system of FIG. 11. Specifically, thedosing segments 1110 enable a predetermined number (4 in the case ofFIG. 11) doses of a medication to be prepared in advance andsequentially delivered to a patient through the device 1100. In oneembodiment an operator of the dosing device 1100 need not perform anymathematical calculations in order to arrive at a correct sequence ofdosages to be delivered to a patient. For example, once a parameter ofthe patient (e.g., weight or length) has been correlated to a particulardosing color (green in the case of FIG. 11), a dosing device 1100 havinga color dosing bar 1104 having a color the same as the dosing colorcorrelated with the patient is selected. The dosing segments 1110 theneffectively serve to inform the operator of the dispensing device of theproper volumes of medication to be administered in each successive dosein light of the patient's size, concentration of the medication, anddesired medication dose (e.g., mg/kg of body weight) without requiringthe operator to engage in any calculations. This sequential delivery ofmultiple, pre-prepared doses of medication through a single instrumentin a manner not requiring a medical professional to engage inmathematical calculations or the like to determine dosing levels is notpossible using conventional syringes or other conventional drug deliverydevices.

Referring to FIG. 11, the medicine dosing device 1100 according to oneembodiment is a syringe 1115 that includes a proximal end 1125 and adistal end 1120 opposite the proximal end. The syringe includes avessel, such as a syringe barrel 1130 for holding therein a medicinethat is to be dispensed, and a plunger 1150 that extends proximally froman opening located at the proximal end 1135 of the syringe barrel to theproximal end of the plunger at the proximal end 1125. The syringe barrel1130 and plunger 1150 are both manufactured from material such asplastic, glass or any other suitable transparent medical grade materialthat is inert or will not disrupt the chemical balance of the fluidinside.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the syringe barrel 1130 is elongate andsubstantially cylindrical and includes a distal end 1131 and a proximalend 1135. A chamber 1132 capable of receiving a plunger and retaining afluid therein is defined by the inner circumferential surface of the1130 barrel between the distal and proximal ends 1131 and 1135. A flange1133, which can serve as a finger grip to provide for an easier handingof the syringe, is integrally formed with the proximal end of the barreland defines an opening for receiving the plunger 1150. Proximate thisopening, along the inner surface of the barrel, may be a ridge (notshown), that prevents the plunger from slipping out of the barrel onceit is engaged with the barrel.

The opening defined by the flange 1133 is in communication with thechamber 1132 and an orifice located at the distal end 1120 of thesyringe barrel. A tip 1140 for attaching a needle, nozzle or tubing forexpelling the liquid contained within the syringe barrel 1130 isintegrally formed with the distal end 1120 of the barrel and incommunication with the orifice. In some embodiments, the tip may beconfigured based on the type of drug that the syringe is used todeliver. For example, oral tips may be used on syringes configured formedicines that are oral, and in particular, the oral tip may bedifferent from an intravenous (“IV”) or intermuscular (“IM”) tip,thereby ensuring that the medicine is delivered by the right route.Similarly, syringes configured for IV and IM drugs may be configuredwith IV and IM tips, respectively, such that they, too, can only bedelivered via the right route.

In one embodiment the barrel 1130 is marked with a reference line 1160(zero line). In cases in which the syringe barrel 1130 is pre-filledwith medication, syringe doses may be calculated from the proximal end1135 of the barrel 1130 or from the reference line 1160. Sequentialdoses may then be delivered to a patient where each dose comprises avolume of medication corresponding to one of the dosing segments 1110.

If the syringe 1115 is provided to an operator in an empty state, thesyringe 1115 would be filled by the operator with medication from, forexample, a medication vial. In this case the orientation of the label1104 would be reversed relative to the orientation shown in FIG. 11.That is, the label 1104 would be oriented such that the dosing segment1110 corresponding to the first of multiple sequential doses of themedication would be proximate the distal end 1120 of the barrel 1130 andthe dosing segment 1110 corresponding to the last dose would berelatively closer to the proximal end 1135. The medication within thevial may be drawn into the syringe 1115 immediately prior toadministering of the sequential doses. In such embodiments, the plungerrod 1150 may remain inside the syringe barrel 1130 until the medicationis drawn into the syringe 1115. Either approach saves valuable time forthe operator relative to the case in which single-dose syringes areused, since these require the operator to refill the syringe from themedication vial prior to administering each sequential dose. Use of thesyringe 1115 also obviates the need for the operator to externally trackhow many doses have actually been provided to a patient, since thevolume of medication remaining in the syringe will explicitly indicatehow many doses remain in the barrel 1130 relative to the full state ofbarrel 1130.

The disclosed sequential dosing system is also pertinent to situationsin which ambulances or other mobile medical care systems must stock alimited supply of medication ready for a vast array of patient needs.These medications may have to meet the needs of a diverse population ofpatients and it is not feasible or practical to have multiplepreparations of the same medication ready (e.g., cardiac arrestmedication). One way of addressing these needs is to use color-coding inthe form of, for example, multiple color bars, to represent various sizepatients on the same dosing device while still preserving sequentialdosing function by partitioning each color bar into multiple dosingsegments.

Turning now to FIG. 12, an illustration is provided of a dosing systemincluding a pre-labeled medicine dosing/dispensing device 1200 designedto facilitate delivery of sequential doses of medication to any one ofmultiple different-sized patients. As shown, the dosing device 1200 isprinted, labeled or otherwise marked with three color dosing bars 1204,1206, 1208, each of which is respectively partitioned into two dosingsegments 1210, 1212, 1214. In one embodiment the color dosing bars 1204,1206, 1208 are respectively colored blue, gold and orange, with eachdifferent color being correlated with a different patient size. Each ofthe dosing segments 1210, 1212, 1214 identifies a volume of themedication corresponding to a given medication dose to be provided to apatient correlated with a corresponding one of the color dosing bars1204, 1206, 1208. For example, a first dosing segment 1210 a of colordosing bar 1204 corresponds to a first dose to be provide to a patientcorrelated with the dosing color blue, and a second dosing segment 1210b of corresponds to a second dose to be provided to the same patient.

Like the system of FIG. 11, the dosing system of FIG. 12 has particularutility in situations in which the practice of medicine requires thatsequential doses of the same medicine be provided to a patient. Suchsituations often arise in the context of emergency treatment whereavailable resources and time may be limited. For example, in anemergency situation involving a cardiac arrest, the same dose of aparticular medicine must generally be given to the cardiac patientduring each of a number of successive 3-minute intervals. In somesituations, up to 20 doses of a medication must be sequentially given toa patient before the patient can be safely transported to a hospitalsetting for further treatment. When conventional dosing instruments areutilized in such emergency scenarios, critical time can be lost incalculating/measuring medicine dose as well as in getting differentpreparations of the medicine ready for administration to the patient.

These shortcomings of conventional dosing approaches can be overcome byutilizing the sequential dosing system of FIG. 12. Specifically, thedosing segments 1210, 1212, 1214 enable a predetermined number (2 in thecase of FIG. 12) doses of a medication to be prepared in advance andsequentially delivered to a patient through the device 1200. In oneembodiment an operator of the dosing device 1200 need not perform anymathematical calculations in order to arrive at a correct sequence ofdosages to be delivered to a patient. For example, once a parameter ofthe patient (e.g., weight or length) has been correlated to a particulardosing color (blue, gold or orange in the case of FIG. 12), a dosingdevice 1200 having a color dosing bar 1204, 1206, 1208 having a colorthe same as the dosing color correlated with the patient is selected.The dosing segments 1210, 1212, 1214 of the one of the color dosing bars1204, 1206, 1208 correlated with the patient then effectively serve toinform the operator of the dispensing device of the proper volumes ofmedication to be administered in each successive dose in light of thepatient's size, concentration of the medication, and desired medicationdose (e.g., mg/kg of body weight) without requiring the operator toengage in any calculations. This sequential delivery of multiple,pre-prepared doses of medication through a single instrument in a mannernot requiring a medical professional to engage in mathematicalcalculations or the like to determine dosing levels is not possibleusing conventional syringes or other conventional drug delivery devices.

Referring to FIG. 12, the medicine dosing device 1200 according to oneembodiment is a syringe 1215 that includes a proximal end 1225 and adistal end 1220 opposite the proximal end. The syringe includes avessel, such as a syringe barrel 1230 for holding therein a medicinethat is to be dispensed, and a plunger 1250 that extends proximally froman opening located at the proximal end 1235 of the syringe barrel to theproximal end of the plunger at the proximal end 1225. The syringe barrel1230 and plunger 1250 are both manufactured from material such asplastic, glass or any other suitable transparent medical grade materialthat is inert or will not disrupt the chemical balance of the fluidinside.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the syringe barrel 1230 is elongate andsubstantially cylindrical and includes a distal end 1231 and a proximalend 1235. A chamber capable of receiving the plunger 1250 and retaininga fluid therein is defined by the inner circumferential surface of the1230 barrel between the distal and proximal ends 1231 and 1235. A flange1233, which can serve as a finger grip to provide for an easier handingof the syringe, is integrally formed with the proximal end of the barreland defines an opening for receiving the plunger 1250. Proximate thisopening, along the inner surface of the barrel, may be a ridge (notshown), that prevents the plunger from slipping out of the barrel onceit is engaged with the barrel.

The opening defined by the flange 1233 is in communication with thechamber of the syringe 1215 and an orifice located at the distal end1220 of the syringe barrel. A tip 1240 for attaching a needle, nozzle ortubing for expelling the liquid contained within the syringe barrel isintegrally formed with the distal end 1220 of the barrel and incommunication with the orifice. In some embodiments, the tip 1240 may beconfigured based on the type of drug that the syringe is used todeliver. For example, oral tips may be used on syringes configured formedicines that are oral, and in particular, the oral tip may bedifferent from an intravenous (“IV”) or intermuscular (“IM”) tip,thereby ensuring that the medicine is delivered by the right route.Similarly, syringes configured for IV and IM drugs may be configuredwith IV and IM tips, respectively, such that they, too, can only bedelivered via the right route.

In one embodiment the barrel 1230 is marked with a reference line 1260(zero line). In cases in which the syringe barrel 1230 is pre-filledwith medication, syringe doses may be calculated from the proximal end1235 of the barrel 1230 or from the reference line 1260. Sequentialdoses may then be delivered to a patient where each dose comprises avolume of medication corresponding to one of the dosing segments 1210,1212, 1214.

If the syringe 1215 is provided to an operator in an empty state, thesyringe 1215 would be filled by the operator with medication from, forexample, a medication vial. In this case the orientation of the dosingbars 1204, 1206, 1208 would be reversed relative to the orientationshown in FIG. 12. That is, the dosing bars 1204, 1206, 1208 would beoriented such that the dosing segment 1210, 1212, 1214 corresponding tothe first of multiple sequential doses of the medication would beproximate the distal end 1220 of the barrel 1230 and the dosing segment1210, 1212, 1214 corresponding to the last dose would be relativelycloser to the proximal end 1235. The medication within the vial may bedrawn into the syringe 1215 immediately prior to administering of thesequential doses. In such embodiments, the plunger 1250 may remaininside the syringe barrel 1230 until the medication is drawn into thesyringe 1215. Either approach saves valuable time for the operatorrelative to the case in which single-dose syringes are used, since theserequire the operator to refill the syringe from the medication vialprior to administering each sequential dose. Use of the syringe 1215also obviates the need for the operator to externally track how manydoses have actually been provided to a patient, since the volume ofmedication remaining in the syringe will explicitly indicate how manydoses remain in the barrel 1230 relative to the full state of barrel1230.

Syringe with Prophylaxis and Treatment Dosing Indicators

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 13-17, which depict a medicinedispensing device in the form of a syringe 1300 configured to delivereither or both of treatment dosages and prophylaxis dosages of aparticular drug. As shown, the syringe 1300 includes a first series ofcolor-coded zones of varying widths 1310 corresponding to prophylaxisdosages and a second series of color-coded zones of varying widths 1320corresponding to treatment dosages. In the embodiment of FIG. 13 thefirst series of color-coded zones 1310 and the second series ofcolor-coded zones 1320 are separated by approximately 180° on anexternal surface of a barrel 1330 of the syringe 1300. Each of thecolor-coded zones within the first series of zones 1310 and the secondseries of zones 1320 corresponds to a pre-determined dose of the drugthat is correlated to one of the physical characteristics of a patient.The first series of zones 1310 and the second series of zones 1320 areeach marked such that the smallest dose of the drug to be administeredcorresponds to a color-coded zone that is proximate an opening 1340through which the particular drug is to be dispensed.

The syringe 1300 advantageously enables both prophylaxis and treatmentdoses of a drug to be given from the same syringe. In this case themedication concentration in the syringe 1300 is the same for prophylaxisand treatment applications, but different dosage levels will typicallybe prescribed for prophylaxis and treatment. In a typical usagescenario, a doctor or health care provider will instruct a caregiverwhich dosing option (i.e., prophylaxis or treatment) is needed andinstructs the caregiver to determine the color zone associated with thepatient. This enables the caregiver to fill the syringe with either theprophylaxis or treatment dose corresponding to the patient's color zoneby consulting the dosing tables of FIGS. 18A and 18B (which are forillustrative purposes only and are not associated with a particulardrug) and administer the corresponding dose to the patient using thesyringe.

Dispensing Device with Multi-Shade Color Bands

Turning now to FIGS. 19 and 20, a syringe 1900 having a series ofmulti-segment color-coded bands of varying widths 1902 is illustrated.As shown, the syringe 1900 includes a grey dosing band 1904, pink dosingband 1908, red dosing band 1912, purple dosing band 1916 and a yellowdosing band 1920. In one embodiment certain of the dosing bands may bepartitioned into multiple segments. For example, the grey dosing band1904 may be partitioned into a first grey segment 1930, a second greysegment 1932 and a third grey segment 1934, each corresponding to adifferent range of patent weight or other physical characteristic of thepatent. In the embodiment of FIGS. 19A and 20A, each of the first greysegment 1930, second grey segment 1932 and third grey segment 1934 areof the same shade of grey. In the embodiment of FIGS. 19B and 20B, thegrey dosing band 1904 includes a light grey segment 1930′, a medium greysegment 1932′, and a dark grey segment 1934′. Similarly, in theembodiments of FIGS. 19B and 20B, the pink dosing band 1908 includes alight pink segment 1940′ and a dark pink segment 1942′. The red dosingbank 1912 may be similarly partitioned into a light red segment 1950′and a dark red segment 1952′.

Syringe System Providing Dosing Indications for Multiple DifferentConditions

As is known, in particular cases drug manufacturers may offer certaindrugs in only a single concentration. For example, it may not befeasible for a drug manufacturer to provide multiple concentrations of adrug used to treat a rare medical condition. Similarly, a given drug(e.g., penicillin) may be used to treat relatively more seriousconditions (e.g., pneumonia) in addition to less serious conditions(e.g., an ear infection). Since a more serious condition may require alarger dose than a less serious condition, a color-coded syringecorrelated to a physical parameter of a patient such as those describedherein may be unable to simultaneously accommodate the dosing schemesfor both the more and less serious conditions.

For example, consider a situation in which penicillin is being used totreat two twin children, one having been diagnosed with an ear infectionand the other with pneumonia. Assume each of the twins weighs 10 kg. andthat the relevant pharmacy has only one concentration of penicillin forchildren (e.g., 100 mg per 5 ml). In this case a doctor may order 100 mgof penicillin per day for the one of the twins having an ear infection(“twin A”) and 200 mg of penicillin per day for the twin diagnosed withpneumonia (“twin B”). So twin A would receive 5 ml of penicillin per dayand twin B would receive 10 ml. per day. Even though twin A and twin Bweigh the same and the penicillin concentration for each is the same,each would receive a different dose (volume of medication) since dosingis dependent upon the underlying diagnosis and not just the size of thechild or concentration of the medication.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, one way that apharmaceutical company or other provider of medicine could address thissituation would be to provide a syringe having dual dosing indicationsor scales on the same syringe. Each dosing indication on the syringewould be associated with a particular medical condition or diagnosis andwould have its own legend (e.g., color coding or marking scheme). Inthis type of system, the colors within each dosing indication schemecould still match a standard system for weight, but hash marks or otherindicia could be used to differentiate the scales.

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 21-22, which depict a medicinedispensing device in the form of a syringe 2100 configured with dosingindications associated with different medical conditions. In this waythe same syringe 2100 can be used to deliver a particular drug to treatthe different medical conditions. As shown, the syringe 2100 includes afirst series of color-coded zones of varying widths 2110 correspondingto dosages for a first medical condition and a second series ofcolor-coded zones of varying widths 2120 corresponding dosagesassociated with a second medical condition. In the embodiment of FIGS.21-22, the first series of color-coded zones 2110 and the second seriesof color-coded zones 2120 are separated by approximately 180° on anexternal surface of a barrel 2130 of the syringe 2100. Each of thecolor-coded zones within the first series of zones 2110 and the secondseries of zones 2120 corresponds to a pre-determined dose of the drugthat is correlated to one of the physical characteristics of a patient.The first series of zones 2110 and the second series of zones 2120 areeach marked such that the smallest dose of the drug to be administeredcorresponds to a color-coded zone that is proximate an opening 2140through which the particular drug is to be dispensed.

As may be appreciated from the exemplary dosing tables depicted in FIGS.23A and 23B, the dual indications on the syringe 2100 advantageouslyenable the same syringe 2100 to deliver the same drug for differentmedical conditions having different dosing requirements. In a typicalusage scenario a caregiver will determine the color zone associated witha patient and determine the appropriate dose to be dispensed byconsulting the one of the tables in FIGS. 23A and 23B applicable to thepatient's medical condition (the values within the tables of FIGS. 23Aand 23B are for illustrative purposes only and are not associated with aparticular drug). This enables the caregiver to fill the syringe withthe dose corresponding to the patient's color zone and medical conditionor diagnosis and administer the corresponding dose to the patient usingthe syringe 2100.

FIGS. 24-25 illustrate an alternative approach for using a singlesyringe to provide doses of the same drug for different medicalconditions or diagnoses. Specifically, FIG. 24 illustrates a syringe2400 having a single color-coded dosing scale 2410. FIGS. 25A and 25Bare different dosing tables 2502 and 2504, respectively, for aparticular drug for use in conjunction with the syringe 2400 in dosingfor different medical conditions. The colors within the dosing tables2502, 2504 of FIGS. 25A and 25B correspond to the colors within thecolor-coded dosing scale 2410. In this way the dosage volumes within thedosing tables 2502, 2504 of FIGS. 25A and 25B are matched tocorresponding color-coded dosing zones of the scale 2410. In theembodiment of FIGS. 24 and 25, the color-coded zones of the scale 2410and dosing tables 2502, 2504 of FIGS. 25A and 25B could be agnosticrelative to patient weight. That is, the dosing tables 2502, 2504 ofFIGS. 25A and 25B could simply be used to map dosing volumes todifferent color-coded volume zones included within the scale 2410 onsyringe 2400. In one embodiment a physician, pharmacist, nurse or otherauthorized medical personnel would determine the zone corresponding to apatient's size or weight and communicate this zone information or colorto the patient or caregiver responsible for delivering the drugdispensed by the syringe 2400.

Alternatively, the scale 2410 could correspond to a color-coded dosingscale based on weight that is peculiar to a particular drug. In thiscase the tables of FIGS. 25A and 25B could be used to determine dosesfor different medical conditions provided that the color-coded zonewithin the scale 2410 corresponding to the patient/s size or weight isknown.

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 26A-C and FIGS. 27A-C, whichillustrate alternate embodiments of dosing systems in which color isused to represent dosing volume for multiple scenarios in a manner thatis not explicitly tied to patient weight. The embodiments of FIGS. 26A-Cand FIGS. 27A-C may find application in, for example, situations inwhich it is desired to provide volumetric dosing indications formultiple conditions or scenarios (e.g., prophylaxis and treatment) wherethe same volume may be prescribed for patients of different size underdifferent scenarios.

Referring to the dosing system of FIGS. 26A-26C, FIG. 26A illustrates adosing table 2600 for use with a color-coded syringe 2610 depicted inFIG. 26B. A color-coded label 2612 attached to an exterior surface ofthe barrel of the syringe 2610 is shown flattened out in FIG. 26C.Although the dosing table 2600 explicitly references only volumesassociated with color-coded zones, each color-coded zone may implicitlybe correlated with patient weight with respect to a given medicalcondition. In this embodiment a doctor, pharmacist or other medicalprofessional would assign a given dose (i.e., color and/or volume) for agiven patient with respect to a given condition (e.g., prophylaxis ortreatment of a particular disease or condition). As an example, considerthe case in which a 14 kg child is prescribed a treatment dose of 1.4 ml(1 mg/kg dose) and a 28 kg child is prescribed a prophylaxis dose of 1.4ml (0.5 mg/kg). As shown, this corresponds to the purple zone in thedosing table of FIG. 26A. The patient or caregiver would then utilizethe syringe of FIG. 26B to then administer the child a dose ofmedication corresponding to the purple zone (1.4 ml).

The dosing system of FIGS. 26A-C, in which correlation with weight orpatient size is implicit rather than explicit, is advantageouslyflexible from a manufacturing and medical indication perspective.Moreover, the system improves dosing accuracy by limiting the number ofpossible doses on a standard graduated syringe to the ranges that arecommonly used for one or more indications, and correlates these tocolor. This serves as a cognitive forcing strategy designed to reducedosing errors in a manner consistent with that advocated by, for examplethe Institute of Safe Medical Practice (ISMP).

Referring now to the dosing system of FIGS. 27A-27C, FIG. 27Aillustrates a dosing table 2700 for use with a color-coded syringe 2710depicted in FIG. 27B. A color-coded label 2712 attached to an exteriorsurface of the barrel of the syringe 2710 is shown flattened out in FIG.27C. The dosing system of FIGS. 27A-27C is substantially similar to thedosing system of FIGS. 26A-26C. However, in the dosing system of FIGS.27A-27C the color-coded zones in the table 2700 further includealphabetic labels to further enhance dosing accuracy. For example, againconsidering the case of a condition requiring a dose of 1.4 ml, aphysician or pharmacist could convey the dose information by prescribinga dose corresponding to one or both of zone “D” and the “purple” colorzone. By specifying an alphabetic label in addition to a color zone therisk of erroneous dosing is further reduced.

FIGS. 28A and 28B show an embodiment of a medicine dispensing device2800 according to the present disclosure. The medicine dispensing device2800 has a single color-coded scale 2810 on a first side 2805 and alinear volumetric scale 2820 on a second side 2815. The single-colorcoded scale 2810 may comprise one or more zones corresponding to dosingtables for one or more conditions. In embodiments, the singlecolor-coded scale 2810 may correspond to two dosing tables, each dosingtable being particular to one medical condition to be treated by thesame drug, and colors from each of the two dosing tables may beinterspersed along the single color-coded dosing scale.

As shown, the medicine dispensing device 2800 is transparent apart fromthe single color-coded scale 2810, the lines 2825 of the linearvolumetric scale 2810, and the numeric indicators 2830 and 2835 alongthe single color-coded scale 2810 and the linear volumetric scale 2810,respectively. The numeric indicators 2830 and 2835 may comprise blacktext on an opaque white background to provide improved visual contrastof the numbers as compared to black text on a translucent background.The design of the medicine dispensing device 2800 allows a personadministering a dose to see easily the drug within the device inrelation to both the color code and the numeric value of the dose.

FIGS. 29A-C show a flat label 2900 which may be printed and affixed to atransparent vessel of a medicine dispensing device to manufacture oneaccording to the present disclosure (e.g., the medicine dispensingdevice 2800). FIG. 29A shows a view with a white background for clarity,but in embodiments, a manufacturing process may comprise printing alabel with white blocks 2910 on a transparent material as shows in FIG.29B and then printing a color coded scale 2930 and numerals 2940 on thewhite blocks 2910, and printing a linear volumetric scale 2950 on thetransparent material 2950. This method may be used to easily manufacturemedicine dispensing devices of similar size with different color dosingscales that correspond to different drugs, different scenarios, anddifferent conditions.

Each of the methods for printing dosing labels described above may beapplied to the manufacturing of medicine dispensing devices havingstair-step dosing indicators described below with reference to FIGS.30-34G.

To summarize the overall features and functions of the medicinedispensing system previously described in FIGS. 21-29C, the dosingsystem is comprised of these aspects: A) a color pattern on the device(e.g., syringe), with bars of varying widths correlating to doses, B)one or more tables that have the same colors in the same order (in onetable) or split up (into one or more tables), with the colors matchingthe colors on the syringe and correlating to a specific volume on thesyringe, and C) the volume marked by a color can match the dose that isselected for a particular condition.

Dispensing Device with Stair-Step Dosing Indicators

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a medicine dispensing devicehaving two or more “stair-step” dosing indicators on a surface thereof.The term “stair-step” refers to the visual impression of two or morelinear blocks of different heights next to each other which resemblestairs. These linear blocks may be represented by wide or thinrectangular blocks, lines, or similar shapes. Each linear block may bereferred to as a dosing indicator (or dosing indicia, in the plural),and may correspond to a height to which liquid medicine within themedicine dispensing device may be filled. In several of the embodimentsshown herein, each of the stair-step dosing indicia correspond to adifferent dose of liquid medicine and do not overlap with each other. Inmany embodiments, each of the two or more stair-step dosing indicia area different color from each other of the two or more stair-step dosingindicia.

Any of the methods for associating a particular color with any valuedescribed throughout this disclosure may be applied to associating avalue with a particularly colored stair-step dosing indicator of themedicine dispensing devices described herein. That is, a color of astair-step dosing indicator may be based on the various methodsdescribed in this disclosure for associating patient characteristics(e.g., height, weight, surface area, etc.) medication concentration,volumetric capacity of a dispensing device, medication indication orcondition, medication type, and/or scenario. For example, the dosingtables shown and described with reference to FIGS. 25A-27C may be usedto determine what color is associated with a particular dose for apatient having a given length and condition, and the color of aparticular one of the stair-step dosing indicia may correspond to thatparticular dose. All or some of the stair-step dosing indicia on a givenmedicine dispensing device may correspond to a given dosing table.

An advantage of the layout of the stair-step dosing indicia of thepresent disclosure is that each color may be easily seen separate fromeach other color because they each comprise their own linear block. Thislayout may allow some users to more clearly differentiate between dosesthat are near each other and which may have just a small volume ofdifference between them; for example, it may be beneficial for userswith imperfect vision. In embodiments, each of the stair-step dosingindicia may also have a visible, numeric volumetric indicator.

FIG. 30 shows a medicine dispensing device in the form of a syringe 3000having two visible stair-step indicia 3010 and 3020. As shown, the lowerdose stair-step indicator 3010 shows a distance to which liquid medicinemay be drawn into the syringe 3000, and has a numeric volumetricindicator for 5 ml. The higher dose stair-step indicator 3020 shows alonger distance which liquid medicine may be drawn into the syringe3000, and has a numeric volumetric indicator for 7.5 ml. Each of thestair-step indicia 3010, 3020 is a different color, and they have aspace between them. The syringe 3000 itself is translucent, and thestair-step indicia 3010, 3020 may be opaque or translucent. In eithercase, the liquid medication may be visually aligned with the top of thedesired dosing indicator to measure and/or visually confirm the properdosage.

FIG. 31A shows a syringe 3100 with visible, numeric volumetricindicators 3102, 3104, 3106, and 3108 on a first side, and FIG. 31Bshows the syringe 3100 with a plurality of stair-step indicators 3112,3114, 3116, and 3118. In embodiments, medicine dispensing devices mayhave more or fewer stair-step indicators, and they may be spaced out atdifferent intervals across the surface of the barrel of the syringe.

FIG. 32 shows an embodiment of a medicine dispensing device in the formof a spoon 3200. The spoon 3200 has a hollow barrel portion 3210configured to receive and hold a volume of liquid medication through abarrel opening 3220 adjacent a spoon head 3230. The hollow barrelportion 3210 may also be used as a handle of the spoon 3200 whileadministering the medication. The hollow barrel 3210 may be transparentor translucent and may comprise one or more stair-step indicators. Inthe embodiment shown, there are two stair-step dosing indicia 3240 and3250. The hollow barrel 3210 also comprises numerical volumetricindicators 3260, 3270. An advantage of the medicine dispensing spoon3200 is that it allows accurate dosing and visual confirmation ofaccurate doses for medication that is administered by spoon, which canbe especially difficult to administer properly due to variations in sizeand lack of markings on conventional spoons.

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 33A-G, which depicts a firstembodiment of a medicine dispensing device 3300 for administering aliquid medicine. FIG. 33A is a front perspective view of the medicinedispensing device 3300, which includes a cup 3310 configured to containa liquid medicine to be dispensed to a patient. The cup includes a sidewall, a circular bottom element and an open top. As shown in FIG. 33A, aplurality of stair-step dosing indicia 3320 are spaced around acircumference of a surface of the side wall of the cup. Each dosingindicia 3320 is of a different height relative to a reference level andcorresponds to a different dose of the liquid medicine.

FIG. 33B is a front side view of the medicine dispensing device 3300;FIG. 33C is a rear elevation view of the medicine dispensing device3300; FIG. 33D is a right side view of the medicine dispensing device3300; FIG. 33E is a left side view of the medicine dispensing device3300; FIG. 33F is a top view of the medicine dispensing device 3300;FIG. 33G is a bottom view of the medicine dispensing device 3300.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 33A-33G, there are five sets ofstair-step dosing indicia. In other embodiments there may be more orfewer, and they may be spaced further apart from each other or closertogether.

In one implementation the plurality of dosing indicia 3320 present onthe cup 3310 are correlated to a plurality of values of a physicalcharacteristic of a patient. Any of the methods described throughout thepresent disclosure Each of the plurality of stair-step dosing indicia3320 may be of a different color. In addition, each of the plurality ofdosing indicia may include a first portion of a first transparency 3320′and a second portion of a second transparency 3320″ different from thefirst transparency. The first portion of a first transparency 3320′ maybe opaque and comprise a first color, and the second portion of a secondtransparency 3320″ may be translucent and be a lighter version of thefirst color. A first of the plurality of dosing indicia 3320 may beseparated from a second of the plurality of dosing indicia byapproximately 180 degrees on the surface of the side wall of the cup3310, as shown, or alternatively may be spaced by 90 degrees, 270degrees, 360 degrees, or any number of degrees between 0-360. In theimplementation shown, the medicine dispensing device 3200 isfrustoconical, but in other embodiments it may be a different shape,such as rectangular, conical, or cylindrical. Each of the plurality ofdosing indicia 3320 may further include a volumetric indication 3330.

In the embodiment of the medicine dispensing device 3300 shown, therelatively more transparent portion 3320″ of a given dosing indicia 3320permits a user to view the fluid level of the liquid medicine within thecup 3310 in relation to a line at the top of the indicia 3320.Generally, any level of the liquid medicine below the line at the top ofthe relevant dosing indicia 3320 is acceptable from the perspective ofpreventing overdosing. The more opaque portion 3320′ of a given dosingindicia 3320 helps keep color zones visible when the liquid medicinewithin the cup 3310 has a color that can confound the user (e.g. grapeor cherry). In alternate embodiments each dosing indicia may havesubstantially transparent and substantially opaque portions (asillustrated in FIGS. 34A-34G), may have only opaque portions, or mayhave only transparent portions.

FIGS. 34A-34G illustrate a medicine dispensing device 3400 foradministering a liquid medicine which utilizes an alternative set ofstair-step dosing indicia 3420. As shown in a first front perspectiveview of the device 3400 illustrated in FIG. 34A, the device 3400 whichincludes a cup 3410 configured to contain a liquid medicine to bedispensed to a patient. The cup includes a side wall, a circular bottomelement and an open top. As shown in FIG. 34A, the plurality of dosingindicia 3420 are spaced around a circumference of a surface of the sidewall of the cup 3410. Each dosing indicia 3420 is of a different heightrelative to a reference level and corresponds to a different dose of theliquid medicine. In the embodiment shown, each stair-step dosing indiciais a different color. However, unlike the embodiment in FIGS. 33A-33G,there is no second corresponding portion having a differenttransparency.

FIG. 34B is a front side view of the medicine dispensing device 3400;FIG. 34C is a rear elevation view of the medicine dispensing device3400; FIG. 34D is a right side view of the medicine dispensing device3400; FIG. 34E is a left side view of the medicine dispensing device3400; FIG. 34F is a top view of the medicine dispensing device 3400;FIG. 34G is a bottom view of the medicine dispensing device 3400.

In one implementation the plurality of dosing indicia 3420 present onthe cup 3410 are correlated to a plurality of values of a physicalcharacteristic of a patient. Each of the plurality of dosing indicia3420 may be of a different color. A first of the plurality of dosingindicia 3420 may be separated from a second of the plurality of dosingindicia by approximately 180 degrees on the surface of the side wall ofthe cup 3410, which in one implementation is frustoconical. Each of theplurality of dosing indicia 3420 may further include a volumetricindication 3430.

Example embodiments of the devices, systems and methods have beendescribed herein. As may be noted elsewhere, these embodiments have beendescribed for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. Otherembodiments are possible and are covered by the disclosure, which willbe apparent from the teachings contained herein. Thus, the breadth andscope of the disclosure should not be limited by any of theabove-described embodiments but should be defined only in accordancewith claims supported by the present disclosure and their equivalents.Moreover, embodiments of the subject disclosure may include methods,systems and devices which may further include any and allelements/features from any other disclosed methods, systems, anddevices, including any and all features corresponding to scientific dataexchange. In other words, features from one and/or another disclosedembodiment may be interchangeable with features from other disclosedembodiments, which, in turn, correspond to yet other embodiments.Furthermore, one or more features/elements of disclosed embodiments maybe removed and still result in patentable subject matter (and thus,resulting in yet more embodiments of the subject disclosure). Stillfurther, some embodiments are distinguishable from the prior art due tosuch embodiments specifically lacking one or more features which arefound in the prior art. In other words, claims to some embodiments ofthe disclosure may include one or more negative limitations tospecifically note that the claimed embodiment lacks at least onestructure, element, and/or feature that is disclosed in the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A medicine dispensing device, comprising: a cupconfigured to contain a liquid medicine to be dispensed by the medicinedispensing device, the cup including a side wall, a circular bottomelement and an open top; and a plurality of dosing indicia spaced apartfrom each other around and in relation to a circumference of a surfaceof the side wall, each dosing indicia being of a different heightrelative to a reference level and corresponding to different dose of theliquid medicine.
 2. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 whereinthe plurality of dosing indicia are correlated to a plurality of valuesof a physical characteristic of a patient.
 3. The medicine dispensingdevice of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of dosing indicia are ofa different color.
 4. The medicine dispensing device of claim 3 whereineach of the plurality of dosing indicia includes a first portion of afirst transparency and a second portion of a second transparencydifferent from the first transparency.
 5. The medicine dispensing deviceof claim 1 wherein a first of the plurality of dosing indicia isseparated from a second of the plurality of dosing indicia byapproximately 180 degrees on the surface of the side wall.
 6. Themedicine dispensing device of claim 1 wherein the side wall isfrustoconical.
 7. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 wherein thereference level is proximate an upper surface of the circular bottomelement.
 8. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 wherein each ofthe plurality of dosing indicia further includes a volumetricindication.
 9. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 wherein each ofthe plurality of dosing indicia is generally rectangular and is of adifferent color than each other one of the plurality of dosing indicia.10. A medicine dispensing device, comprising: a frustoconical cupconfigured to contain a liquid medicine to be dispensed by the medicinedispensing device; and a plurality of color-coded dosing indicia spacedaround and in relation to a circumference of a lateral surface of thefrustoconical cup, each dosing indicia being of a different heightrelative to a reference level and corresponding to different dose of theliquid medicine.
 11. The medicine dispensing device of claim 10 whereineach dosing indication further includes a volumetric indication.
 12. Themedicine dispensing device of claim 10 wherein the reference level isproximate an interior bottom surface of the frustoconical cup.
 13. Themedicine dispensing device of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality ofdosing indicia includes a first portion of a first transparency and asecond portion of a second transparency different from the firsttransparency
 14. A medicine dispensing device, comprising: a syringehaving a barrel configured to contain a liquid medicine to be dispensedby the medicine dispensing device; and a plurality of color-coded dosingindicia spaced around and relative to a circumference of a surface ofthe barrel, each dosing indicia being of a different height relative toa reference level and corresponding to different dose of the liquidmedicine.
 15. The medicine dispensing device of claim 14 wherein theplurality of dosing indicia are correlated to a plurality of values of aphysical characteristic of a patient.
 16. The medicine dispensing deviceof claim 14 wherein each of the plurality of dosing indicia are of adifferent color.
 17. The medicine dispensing device of claim 16 whereineach of the plurality of dosing indicia includes a first portion of afirst transparency and a second portion of a second transparencydifferent from the first transparency.
 18. The medicine dispensingdevice of claim 14 wherein a first of the plurality of dosing indicia isseparated from a second of the plurality of dosing indicia byapproximately 180 degrees on a surface of the barrel.
 19. The medicinedispensing device of claim 14 wherein the reference level is proximatean end of the barrel. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 whereineach of the plurality of dosing indicia further includes a volumetricindication.
 20. The medicine dispensing device of claim 1 wherein eachof the plurality of dosing indicia is generally rectangular and is of adifferent color.
 21. A medicine dispensing device, comprising: a spooncomprising a spoon head portion having a concave surface configured toreceive and hold a liquid medicine to be dispensed by the medicinedispensing device; and a handle portion comprising a hollow barrelconfigured to hold a volume of the liquid medicine, the hollow barrelhaving a plurality of color-coded dosing indicia spaced about andrelative to a circumference of the hollow barrel, each dosing indiciabeing of a different length relative to a reference and corresponding todifferent dose of the liquid medicine.
 22. The medicine dispensingdevice of claim 21 wherein the plurality of dosing indicia arecorrelated to a plurality of values of a physical characteristic of apatient.
 23. The medicine dispensing device of claim 21 wherein each ofthe plurality of dosing indicia are of a different color.
 24. Themedicine dispensing device of claim 21 wherein each of the plurality ofdosing indicia further includes a volumetric indication.
 25. Themedicine dispensing device of claim 21 wherein each of the plurality ofdosing indicia is generally rectangular and is of a different color.